Kae Treadway
RE-5710
Question 1
As a high school English teacher, my ideal reading/ language arts program
certainly differs from that of many of my colleagues in this master’s program. Nevertheless, I have learned a great deal that has impacted my daily teaching and provided me with a framework for my ideal teaching situation.
Appropriate Assessment
Assessment serves several purposes in my sophomore classes. Some assessments are diagnostic in nature and provide valuable data driving my decisions on future lessons and what texts I will use. Diagnostic assessments (which are normally given early in the semester) includeteacher prepared Informal Reading Inventory passages to determine which students have difficulty with comprehension, the rate at which students read and their proficiency at recognizing words in context. For students desperately below grade level, I still use the Woods and Moe IRI to determine instructional and frustration reading levels, and spelling assessments to group students for spelling lessons.
Another role of assessment in my program is to evaluate learning in the midst of teaching allowing me to adjust pacing or instructional methods as necessary. Normally these are informal assessments and include methods as simple as questioning and observation.
At the end of a unit or lesson, learning and/or performance must be assessed. These post-instructional assessments also provide feedback for all stakeholders showingwhere students have grown as well as where they still need to improve. Often after reading a work of literature, the assessment is open-ended. For example, students may be asked to write an “I am… Poem” from the perspective of the main character, write an obituary for a character, respond to a discussion question about the theme of the piece, create a book cover for the novel, or complete a multi-genre project related to the book. Providing students with choices when requiring open-ended assessments is key to their success and comfort. Performance-based tasks (such as writing and oral presentations) are assessed using a specific rubric to which students have had access since the early stages of the process. Dr. Linda Kucan’s training in this area has given me confidence and direction in developing appropriate, valid, concrete rubrics that not only evaluate my students at the end of a unit, but serve as a guide as they are preparing the final product. I use alternative assessments such as portfolios and conferencing to facilitate better writing and establish the concept that writing is an on-going process. My students are also trained in self-assessment and peer assessment as a tool they can take with them when I am no longer their teacher. They see me model these assessment techniques, have guided practice in using them and then are invited to use self-assessment to improve their grades and sharpen their critical thinking skills.
Meaningful Materials
Having interesting materials written at the appropriate level is crucial to the reading classroom. Student become bored, frustrated, and disengaged when they are asked to muddle through materials daily that are clearly written above or below their level; they become stagnant instead of thriving and growing. The state-adopted textbook is obviously one source of reading material for my students, but it is not my best source. Many of my materials are class sets of high-interest novels. When literature circles meet, I am able to choose reading material on different levels to meet the needs of learners with a variety of reading abilities.
Materials are also chosen to reflect a variety of genres from biographies to poetry to famous speeches. Consideration is given to materials that are multi-cultural so that my students may see their own culture or ethnic group validated in literature as well as gaining awareness of ethnic groups and cultures they may not come in contact with in our community. I attempt to choose materials that are free of cultural bias and include rich language to permeate my students’ vocabulary with lively, captivating words. Students are encouraged to self-select materials of interest to them when they offer book talks after reading a novel of their choosing as a companion to a thematic unit. A relatively small percentage of materials are consumable texts such as magazines or newspapers that provide authentic reading experiences. Technology-based materials that appear on computer screens when my students research various topics allow them encounter literacy materials in a new genre.
One of my favorite sources for materials in the high school classroom is picture books! I find that students are motivated by the beautiful artwork and the nostalgic feeling associated with these read alouds. The canon of award-winning children’s books (to which Dr. Connie Green sensitized me) serves to introduce new units, clarify difficult concepts, offer extension activities, spark writing exercises, give information for language charts, and provide comparisons to the classics.
Reading for Fluency and Comprehension
Most high school students are capable readers allowing my reading instruction to take the form of small groups such as literature circles. At times, we study works in a whole class configuration. However, I still see some very low level students who have not mastered basic decoding skills. Through my course work in this master’s program, I have gained practical knowledge to be able to help these students who are well below grade level with word attack skills and other adapted strategies traditionally used with younger students. I am excited to now have a plan to help these students one-on-one though my undergraduate major in English did not prepare me to teach students to read. My fellow teachers are also becoming aware of my knowledge as they ask me to coach them with advice or send me their non-readers to tutor after school.
Methods of improving comprehension are still necessary for almost all of my students. Prior to reading, we often take a picture walk if the text offers illustrations or photographs. Even if the text is not heavily illustrated, the cover art can offer material for my students to make predictions. Other pre-reading comprehension techniques include completing an anticipation guide, KWL charts, previewing a related video excerpt that sets the stage for the setting, and activating prior knowledge through discussion. During reading, comprehension is addressed with reading guides and by dividing the text into small sections. Chunking the reading material allows me to monitor students’ understanding. Graphic organizers and concept sorts further aid students with comprehension.
Fluency on the high school level is often addressed through my modeling with read alouds or passages from our text. I have several of the books we read on cassette tape which seems to engage my students. Vocabulary previews help students with fluency as well as comprehension. Fluency is improved by repeated readings of passages that students can perform after preparation with attention given to expression. My students also enjoy and benefit from reader’s theater and other opportunities for dramatic interpretations. Partner readings give disfluent readers practice within comfortableparameters. Poetry slams are a treat for my entire class and even low readers can participate with a piece suited to their abilities.
Modeling reading and writing strategies is imperative for students to be successful. Before learners can apply a strategy, I must be certain they are comfortable with knowing how to use it because I have introduced it through direct instruction including a model, guided practice and independent practice. I devise lessons with support and examples to scaffold their experiences. Much of the modeling I do is spontaneous in those “teachable moments” that cannot be scripted. For example, when I do not know a word, I go to the dictionary to find a definition and pronunciation. I model questioning techniques while reading aloud and summarizing main points as we take notes on reading guides. I model through example by reading when my class is asked to read instead of grading papers or checking my e-mail. Samples of exemplary final products provide tangible models for what I expect their illustrations, ABC books, KWL charts, power point presentations or multi-genre projects to look like.
Grouping to Meet the Needs of All Learners
Many learners from economically disadvantaged situations lack the literacy and real world experiences to have an adequate foundation to be successful. I find that I must work to build up those gaps in background knowledge by offering field trips, authentic experiences and literacy materials that can be taken home. Others students are diverse because of their culture. The population at my school is comprised of4 % Hispanic and 14 % Asian students. Their special needs range from ESL services to cultural characteristics that may lead to misunderstandings. I attend workshops to better meet their needs and understand the values, norms, priorities and practices of many of their home environments. My EC students are served in an inclusion setting. I find that many of the techniques that I use with these special needs students are transferable and valuable in helping all readers be successful. My AIG students are in my honors English class and require different levels of reading assignments to keep them challenged, thinking, prepared and growing.
I feel the weight of the responsibility I have to provide quality instruction that meets the needs of all of these students. Tiered assignments allow some differentiation. For instance, although the curriculum requires all sophomores to write a persuasive essay, the rubric, length requirement, topic choices and amount of class time can be altered to be appropriate for different ability levels and backgrounds.
Grouping decisions are among the most important a reading teacher makes because they are imperative if a teacher is to meet the needs of all learners. Teaching readers at the appropriate level allows them to gain and improve their skills. Students are somewhat grouped by ability at my school when they select the level of English they will take; their choices are regular, college prep and honors English. However, even within those classes a variety of ability levels exists. Students are grouped homogeneously for literature circles so I can choose a text at their level. This allows me to work with each group to provide support and mini-lessons as needed. Homogeneous grouping also occurs for spelling lessons. Heterogeneous groups are necessary when we are reading a “classic” novel whole group. In this instance, when each group has the same assignment and text, lower achieving students need the skills the higher achieving students bring to the group. Writer’s workshops also involve some heterogeneous groups since tasks like peer editing are not as likely to be effective if all students in the group have the same difficulties.
Struggling readers are often left to fend for themselves without support when they become teenagers. This phenomenon is unfortunate, and my master’s training is allowing me to combat the mentality many high school English teachers have adopted—“It’s not my job to teach them to read. They should have learned that in first grade.” Our less proficient readers benefit from individual tutoring. They are flooded with books of high interest on their reading level. Graphic organizers and strategies like DRTA and SQ3R aid in their comprehension. Many of these struggling students are kinesthetic learners and enjoy movement or manipulatives as lesson components. Providing “books on tape” and dividing the reading into small sections aids all readers, but may be vital for struggling students to survive. I am empowered by now having many specific methods to help students improve their reading that were not in my repertoire prior to my summer practicum experience in Boone.
Beyond Reading
The language arts consist of reading/writing, listening/speaking and viewing/visual representations. Reading is only one component of a well-designed program to meet the literacy needs of young people. Students must also have the opportunity to view and produce videos or power point presentations. Their writing must reflect their personal voice through poetry and other mediums that allow them to show their creativity and individuality. Students in my classes seem to revel in the freedom of activities that allow them to take a gallery walk, draw a concept before they write about it, or dramatically interpret a scene from a play.
The author’s craft is usually taught in the context of reading texts in my program, but occasionally mini-lessons on a specific literary element are warranted. Students enjoy playing “games” (like simile scavenger hunts in texts I pull in) that allow them to explore figurative language. If I am asking students to practice the author’s craft, I define the literary element and model the concept before asking them to produce, for instance, metaphor in their original poetry. Students are exposed to different genres in units that include a variety from non-fiction to poetry. Language charts are a wonderful way to compare and contrast genres, the characteristics inherent in them, and the information conveyed by them. Many of my students blossom in poetry units that allow them to exploretheir own conflicting emotions and changing views of the world. Stations work well to teach poetry. Students are exposed to many of the countless forms of poetry that exist and invited to try their hand at producing many of the forms!
Word Study in upper grades takes the form of vocabulary for readers who are on grade level. Exploration of commonly used words with Greek and Latin Roots, able vs. ible endings, homophones, and homonyms are valuable for teens. Emphasis is placed on students owning the words-not just memorizing them for a matching test on Friday; therefore, students must experience the words in a variety of ways and have only short lists of seven to ten words per week. They are still very willing to “play” the same types of “games” that younger students enjoy in lower grades including concentration, Bingo, timed sorts, concept sorts, rummy, and Pictionary. Sketching a visual representation of vocabulary words can be useful. I have learned that students must have an accessible definition since copying a dictionary definition is often a meaningless exercise. They need synonyms with which they are familiar; they need connections to the words they will remember. My students only own the words if they can use them in context. Their vocabulary quizzes ask them to do more than commit definitions to short-term memory; they must apply the words by responding to open-ended questions like “Which word from the list best describes you? How?” or “Name an animal that is agile and explain how it fits that definition.”
Spelling is a skill that is often ignored in high school. Unfortunately some teens are very poor spellers as evidenced by the fact that I have students at the morphemic stage of development. Schlagal’s qualitative Spelling Inventory provides useful diagnostic information when dividing students into spelling groups. Providing them with specific spelling instruction similar to the way Judy Brown teaches spelling in her elementary classes helps my students become better readers and writers. Groups are divided by achievement and have a schedule that is that same every week. They complete sorts and their spelling words are chosen from lists that progress developmentally in skill development. (Spelling words are not random lists or SAT vocabulary!) I re-assess students about every six weeks to see if they need to move to another group. Review tests are given “cold” (pop quiz format without preparation) to determine how well students are retaining their spelling words.
Responding to Literature
One of the most exciting experiences in my classroom is seeing how teens respond to literature. Text to Text, Text to Self and Text to World connections provide rich experiences for all class participants. Students are invited to respond in a variety of ways to keep the class dynamic and accommodate their learning styles. The two masters courses Dr. Linda Kucan taught me provided me with interesting and effective choices for literary responses including Sketch to Stretch (an activity that asks students to symbolize an emotion or feeling from a passage rather than just a literal illustration of the plot), story quilt, poems for two voices, tableau (creatinga frozenscenes with props and facial expressions), dances, and skits.
Discussions in response to literature allow students to exercise their critical thinking skills. Sometimes we discuss whole class while other topics are better covered in smaller break-out groups. Conferencing is a method of discussion that allows one-on-one interaction which students seem to find validating. I have been trained in Question the Author (QTA) which made me very conscious of keeping my discussions rooted in the text rather than diverging off on an interesting, but unrelated tangential topic. Padeia seminars allow students to discuss without the teacher being the central figure. Seeing them bounce questions and concepts off each other is intriguing and energizing.